As the summer comes to an end, you may feel a sense of sadness or even regret for not having appreciated the outdoors as much as you initially intended. With work and school, it's very easy to put off doing the things that truly give you joy. But don't fret as it's not too late! During August and September, many flowers are still just coming to bloom. In this post, I go through some of the flowers that thrive in the late summer months and how you can use them in everyday life, bringing the outdoors inside. Before going out into the world to forage for flowers, there are some guidelines that should be followed, for your own safety and the preservation of our natural landscapes:
Make sure you're not picking flowers that shouldn't be picked (from flowers beds, in other people's gardens etc.).
Don't pick flowers from areas where pesticides or herbicides are used and make sure you aren't picking anything poisonous.
Do not over forage, leave most flowers in their natural habitats, use paths when walking through the countryside to avoid trampling plants, and do not pick rare plants.
Be aware of rules in your local area, for example, it is illegal to forage in National Parks.
Learn about dangerous species that are in your local area and avoid picking these.
Lavender
Lavender comes to full bloom in July and August so now is the perfect time to visit a lavender farm. In the hazy, late summer heat, you'll be greeted with the sweet fragrance of lavender, and a landscape teeming with wild insects feeding on the nectar of the flower. Many lavender farms sell their own organic products or you can purchase some of your own cuttings and use them to make something for yourself. To make your very own lavender soap at home, the process is very simple. You'll only need the following ingredients:
A soap of your choice (preferably unscented)
Lavender buds
Essential oil
Saucepan and kettle
Something to shape your soap e.g. a soap container
Firstly, take some lavender buds and dry them out on paper towels on your window sill for a few days.
Then, fill a saucepan halfway with water and put a metal bowl on top of the saucepan.
Cut up the bar of soap into little pieces.
Once the water is boiling, place these pieces of soap into the bowl and wait for them to melt into a liquid.
Turn off the heat and remove the bowl from the saucepan, taking care not to burn yourself.
Add 15 drops of essential oil into the soap liquid and then stir in the lavender buds.
Pour this into whatever you intend to mold your soap with.
Wait for the soap to harden (I'd recommend giving it at least three hours).
Now you have a gloriously smelling bar of soap! You could use this as a gift or to pamper yourself after a hard day's work.
Roses
Like lavender, roses are also in full bloom around late summer/early autumn so now is the perfect time to seek out some rose petals to adorn your beauty routine. Rose water is a popular product for treating skin problems; it can help calm down acne and balance the skin's pH levels. All you need is the following:
Rose petals (ideally from an organic source)
A spray bottle
Distilled water
A saucepan
Clean the rose petals thoroughly under tap water.
Add your rose petals to a saucepan.
Pour distilled water into this saucepan so that water covers all the petals.
Cover the saucepan with a lid, leaving a slight gap.
Bring the saucepan to a simmer and leave for approximately 30 minutes, until the petals lose their colour.
Turn off the hob and allow the water to cool.
Pour the water into a spray bottle.
You can now use this to spray on your face in the morning or night as part of your skincare routine.
Daisies
Daisies are more abundant in the midsummer months but are still abundant in August and September. Daisies are one of the most prominent wildflowers in the UK, and embellish almost any patch of greenery as little jewels of white. Use this to your advantage and make some of your very own, delicious daisy tea. All you'll need is:
Dried daisy flower heads
A cup of water
1 teaspoon of raw honey or sugar
A sieve or muslin cloth
First, boil the water.
Then, add the daisies and wait for five-10 minutes, depending on how strong you want your tea to be.
Strain the tea through a sieve or muslin cloth into your favourite mug.
Add the teaspoon of honey or sugar and stir.
Once it's cooled, sit back and relax with a book and your mug of homemade daisy tea!
Daisies contain a lot of vitamin C and have been recognised for their medicinal quality for centuries.
Sunflowers
Sunflowers are perfect for this time of year, as they are known to flower in August, turning their little faces up to the warm, sizzling sun to give us a final spout of summer bliss. Why not use this time to help the birds in your garden with their feeding with a sunflower seed wreath? To do this, you'll need:
Vines or a wreath base
Dried sunflower heads
Other dried wildflower heads
Herbs
Tall grasses
Baby corn
*A good tip is to look up what birds in your area eat and add these to the wreath too.
Start with the wreath base and attach the sunflower heads around it, using floral wire or strong grass.
Add various other flowers you've gathered to fill up the rest of the gaps, along with baby corn, which birds love.
Then, attach herbs and the grasses all around until your wreath looks full.
Place it in your garden in a place that birds can reach it, ideally high up enough to protect the birds from ground predators.
Wildflower collage
Another way to get creative is to create your own wildflower collage. After a forage in the woods, take your favourite flowers and press them.
You can do this by first flattening them out with your hands and then gently placing them in a book.
Pile a load of other books on top of this book and wait for two weeks for the flowers to dry and flatten.
Glue your flowers down onto a canvas or thick sheet of paper.
This is your opportunity to be creative and create your own memory garden of flowers to cherish forever!
Appreciating the outdoors
The summer months are nearly over, which makes this time all the more precious as we recognise how fleeting summer really is. Now is the best time to go and have an adventure in the great outdoors, and appreciate the ways that nature can help us live our day-to-day lives, whether that's through making our soap smell glorious or our tea delicious! References
https://greencitygrowers.com/diy/uses-of-sunflowers/ https://www.almanac.com/content/how-make-bird-seed-wreath
Comentários